caniscream

Hey guys. I'm taking my 2014 F-150 to the outer banks (Ocracoke Island) for vacation next week. We've been doing this for many many years. This is the first time I'm taking this truck though. The sand is really deep and I know guys who don't deflate their tires tend to get stuck out there.

I still have my stock tires on the truck. They are Pirelli Scorpions. Pirelli's site says not to deflate them below 1.6 bar or 23 psi. In the past, I've done other tires on smaller/lighter vehicles down to about 10 psi or so. Will I damage my tires if I go down to 10-15 psi? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

winchested

Well those tires suck ***** anyways so might get stuck even with low pressure. It's a glorified street tire.

Goodluck. No need to go lower than15 psi.

PerryB

As long as you're not going fast for extended periods you'll be fine I think the low pressure warning is due to heating concerns. Also don't get too aggressive in the turns or you could roll one off the rim. I wouldn't go below 12-14 psi.

Bass3006

Im assuming you have the 20" wheels if you have Pirellis. I have run my stock 18" on the beach on Outer Cape Cod in really soft sand with my 1500lb truck camper and have had no issues running 12-14psi. I wouldn't think twice about dropping to 16lbs with your truck. Like it was said before, take your time, don't drive it like you're running the Baja and you will be fine.
Also, driving with low tires on the beach does almost no damage when compared to running that low on pavement. The sand is very forgiving and will allow the tire to "slip" unlike on pavement that "grabs and can tear" at the tire.

Vin

I have the 20" Pirellis that came stock with my 2012 Platinum. While they do suck, I had no issue with airing down to 18PSI. Since the tires have a somewhat low profile, they looked flatter (IMHO) than anyone else's tires on the beach.

I went to Swan Beach (4x4 beach in northern OBX, above Corolla and Duck). I felt the Platinum will need some lift truck bottom slammed the sand while jumping ruts a little too much for my liking. I have the Eco, so FYI there is a fiber shield under the truck covering the transfer case?.... in any event, mine stayed intact but did fill up with sand. I made it a priority to detach it and empty it when I saw it was hanging low. I never ripped it off, but I did see at least one in the sand as I drove up and down the beach.

The biggest worry was getting aired up when back on pavement. I drove for a mile or so on the aired down tires to get to a pump as the one I carried took too long to pump up the tires effectively.

Air down with confidence and good luck!

Z7What

I just recently went to Florida on vacation. The beach we went to you were able to drive on to. They had a sign posted 4x4 only, mine being a "lifted" 2WD with Terra Grapplers I thought no problem. I get onto the beach and turn the ELocker to on and start going. The sand was dry dry and deep, I ended up getting stuck and a jeep had to pull me out. Parked and went swimming when it was time to leave I realized I didn't turn TC off so I wasn't able to spin the tires much to get through it without TC kicking in. I also thought that it was worth a shot to try it withOUT the rear locked. With TC and Advance Trac turned OFF and rearend kept UNlocked I walked right out of it like I had 4x4. I was very surprised that locking the rear actually hurt me in the sand.

Just a FYI

Wayne

default_user8

I've always heard and held to the idea of deflating till you see the side walls bulge out(like its almost flat). Deflating makes a wider footprint and gives some traction from the side wall. Go easy on the skinny pedal and try not to make to tight of a turn, and you should be fine either way.

DieselDawg

It is not at all about side wall bulge...or about a wider footprint. It IS ABOUT a longer tread contact patch (think of a tank track).


Take an egg and place it behind you tire (at normal psi) to where it is just barely touching the tread. Deflate your tires 10-15 psi and see what I mean.

Havyek

This, similar principal to mud.

All you really need to do is maximize your contact with the ground. Deflate until the width of the tread is touching the ground. On stock rims and tires (especially 20s) I wouldn't run the risk of blowing out a sidewall on something or cornering out of your beads or something.

More off-road oriented tires have thicker sidewalls and are more forgiving for taking damage, as well as stiffer and can have more air let out before you need to worry. An example of this would be my Jeep. I ran off-road with BFG All-Terrain TA KOs for a year, at most I'd air them down to about 15-18 PSI. My Mickey Thompson MTZs I air down to 6-8 (caveat, I also prefer rock crawling, so I air down lower than mud/sand would require).

Also depends on if you have a compressor handy and can air down, then air up again.

If you're just airing down to drive around on the sand for a weekend, then can air up for driving on the road you can air down lower than if you need to drive a bit to find a gas station with a compressor.

M0RRIS

I've got the Pirelli Scorpions on my truck and aired down to 20psi with no issues. This was at silver lake in Michigan last month. Afterwards I drove on asphalt for 3-5 miles before I was able to air up. Again, no issues. I think you'll be fine.